Extra-gonadal germ cell tumour – what about the testis!

Extra-gonadal germ cell tumours (EGGCT) are rare. Therefore further investigations of the testis is aimed at sourcing a possible primary origin of gonadal tumour. Over the years, various case series on EGGCT have been reported questioning its true nature as in a majority of them, a primary source is found in the testis, thus representing a metastatic gonadal tumour. The testis pathology could be either a true germ cell foci, an intra-tubular epithelial neoplasia or an area of fibrosis, indicating a „burnt out tumour‟. We report a 39-year-old male who underwent laparotomy and excision of a retroperitoneal tumour. Histopathological examination revealed retroperitoneal lymph node of mixed germ cell tumour origin. Clinical and ultrasound examination of bilateral testis was normal. The patient refused orchidectomy or a testicular biopsy. He underwent four cycles of bleomycin, cisplatin, and etoposide with no evidence of tumour recurrence on follow up and remains disease free after 12 months of diagnosis. A literature review of EGGCT, its relation and factors relating with future testicular tumour is presented

Practicing field hockey skills along the contextual interference continuum: A comparison of five practice schedules

To overcome the weakness of the contextual interference (CI) effect within applied settings, Brady (2008) recommended that the amount of interference be manipulated. This study investigated the effect of five practice schedules on the learning of three field hockey skills. Fifty-five pre-university students performed a total of 90 trials for each skill under blocked, mixed or random practice orders. Results showed a significant time effect with all five practice conditions leading to improvements in acquisition and learning of the skills. No significant differences were found between the groups. The findings of the present study did not support the CI effect and suggest that either blocked, mixed, or random practice schedules can be used effectively when structuring practice for beginners

Statistical modelling of extreme temperature in Peninsular Malaysia

Extreme temperature events bring significant effects on the environment and society. Consequently, investigating the best fit for extreme temperature data is important for hydrological study and event forecasting. The main aim of this study is to determine the best fit probability distribution for monthly and annual extreme temperatures. The maximum temperature data at monthly and annual time scales were obtained from MMD (Malaysia Meteorological department). The temperature data for 40 years were fitted to the 10 probability distributions for each station. The parameters of the distributions were estimated by the maximum likelihood method and L-moment method. Besides, three goodness of fit tests, namely Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S), Anderson-Darling (A2) and Chi-Squared Error (CSE) test were applied to evaluate the performances of the distributions. The best fit distribution was selected based on the lowest test scores from the summation of the three goodness of fit tests. The results of this study showed that Generalized Extreme Value distribution was selected as the best-fit distribution, followed by Log-Pearson 3, 3 Parameter Lognormal, Generalized Log Logistic and Gamma distributions. The results of this study can be used as a reference for development planners, agricultural sector, water management agencies in hydrological planning and disaster management

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8–13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05–6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50–75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life. Funding Pfizer, Amgen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sanofi–Aventis, Daiichi Sankyo, and Regeneron

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life

Total pancreatectomy for diffuse pancreatic adenocarcinoma

A 64-year-old lady presented with a brief history of abdominal pain associated with obstructive jaundice. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP) revealed a short segment stricture with contact bleeding and the brush cytology confirmed presence atypical cells. Ca 19.9 levels were markedly elevated. She was planned for a Whipple’s procedure but was instead subjected to a total pancreatectomy based on intraoperative findings of a diffusely hard and nodular pancreas. Histopathological examination confirmed our diagnosis of diffuse pancreatic adenocarcinoma. This rare presentation of a locally contained and fully resectable diffuse pancreatic adenocarcinoma is being discussed

Optimum Efficiency of the Production Line at the Automotive Industry

Production Line Balancing Problem (PLBP) is one of the most important stages in automobile manufacturing. It is a critical problem in continuous Production Line (PL), and it is one of the difficult optimization problems. PLBP includes many stations concerned with the allocation of tasks to work, where each station contains a number of operations that cooperate to achieve the task work. The main PLBP are: queuing, idling time among stations during the task achievement, and unregulated number of workers among a station, which is an obstacle to the efficient PL. In this paper, the technical constraint was carried out to minimize the queuing problem and regulate the workers by applying hybrid models; Multi-Objectives Model and Genetic Algorithm. The outcome of the mixed models assists to reduce the queuing and the idling time through harmonizing the tasks in each workstation. In addition to balance the distribution of the new workers in order to get the optimal solutions as well as improving the ability of PL with the high production rate

Process queuing in the automobile manufacturing body shop: Using a multi-objective model

The automobile industry is one of the most important industries in global economics. The automobile manufacturing industry consists of many shops and many stations. Each station has a number of operations, which depend on the number of welded pieces in those stations. One of these shops is the body shop. The problems that occur in the body shop concern queuing and the lead time between stations. This paper focus on optimize queuing processes and lead time in the body shop at the production line. A multi-objective model was applied to create a balance of equal finishing of all operations in all stations at the same time and to reduce the lead time in transferring the car structure between stations. The result showed that saving time and ensuring maximum production can increase profits in the automobile manufacturing industry

An efficient assembly line balancing in automobile manufacturing

The process time in Assembly Line balancing (ALB) is one for the most part important stage in production line at automobile manufacturing. It is a fundamental problem in continuous production line, and it is one of the difficult optimization problems. ALB contains many stations concerned with the allocation of tasks to work, where each station includes a number of operations that assist to achieve the task work. The main ALB problem is the queuing among stations during task achievement that is an obstacle to the efficient assembly line. This paper, will be process minimize the queuing problem by applying Multi-Objectives Model and Genetic Algorithm. The outcome of the mixed models helps to reduce the queuing through harmonizing the tasks in each workstation. Moreover, to get the optimal solution as well balancing the redistribution tasks to the stations